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Bond for a man charged with trying to entice young girls was set at $750,000 Friday, June 27 in Mason Municipal Court.

"Good, that's great news," said Glenda Cunningham, the mother of a 10-year-old girl Michael Hamblin followed in the Deerfield Twp. Wal-Mart in December 2006. He was found guilty on one count of public indecency and sentenced to 180 days in jail.

On the latest charges against Hamblin, Judge D. Andrew Batsche set a preliminary hearing for Hamblin, 38, a Tier III sex offender, for 5 p.m. Tuesday, July 1 during Friday's video arraignment. He stands charged with three counts of child enticement, a fifth-degree felony. If found guilty he could be sentenced to one year in prison on each count.

The mother of two of the three children he allegedly tried to coax into the woods at Heritage Oak Park on Sunday, June 22, asked not to be identified,. But she was glad to hear about the high bond.

"I don't think he should ever be let out," the mother said. "He has done this several times and he obviously can't be helped."

Hamblin, appearing on a video feed from the Warren County Jail, appeared a little dazed and actually asked Batsche not to set any bond. He also told the judge he hasn't worked since 2004, when he was a landscaper. Batsche said he will immediately appoint an attorney for Hamblin.

When the judge asked Mason City Prosecutor Robert Peeler for a bond recommendation, Peeler didn't make a specific recommendation, but made it clear Hamblin shouldn't be free to roam the streets.

"This is an individual who has no control over his urge to traumatize young children," Peeler said. "We also confiscated a (hunting) knife, (binoculars) and plastic gloves from his truck. He tried to entice children into the woods this time. He is obviously getting worse and he is a danger to children and community and needs to be in jail."

Hamblin, suspected of various crimes in Butler and Warren counties, was arrested as a result of a tip called in by a resident, officials said.

Oxford police arrested Hamblin at approximately 3:30 p.m. Thursday, June 26, about three hours after his photograph appeared in the news media.

Police in Liberty Twp. and Monroe will be questioning Hamblin, whose last known address was in the 5000 block of Augspurger Road, about recent reports of similar crimes in their communities, officials said.

The arrest followed a tip received by the Butler County Sheriff's Office from someone who recognized Hamblin at a McDonald's restaurant in Oxford, said Butler County Sgt. Monte Mayer. Oxford police arrested Hamblin near the railroad tracks on North College Avenue, Mayer said.

Oxford police delivered Hamblin to the sheriff's office in Hamilton about 4 p.m. He was held at the sheriff's office until Mason police took him to the Warren County Jail.

Hamblin is a repeat offender whose crimes against children led to tougher state laws against sexual predators. Last June, Hamblin was sentenced to 90 days in the Butler County Jail stemming from a December 2006 arrest for public indecency. He was charged with the same crime in Warren County for a separate incident that occurred two days earlier. He was already serving a sentence at the London Correctional Institute for an unrelated crime.